


Corruption

by WolfKomoki



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt Leo, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8668201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfKomoki/pseuds/WolfKomoki
Summary: After injuring his leg, Leo's system is corrupted with a foreign program. The program blocks his human memories, leaving Leo to believe that he is nothing more than a Synthetic. Mattie finds him, heartbroken at what's happened to him. Mattie is determined to get Leo back.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Humans is owned by AMC studios here in the states. Please correct me if that is not who owns it. Also, I apologize for anything that may be inaccurate when it comes to dialogue, I’m American and I don’t have a Brit Picker.  
> Also, I'm new to Humans, and season two hasn't aired for us yet.

 

          Leo slowly opened his eyes to a dark room. Mia, Niska, Max, and Fred were all charging. Slowly he got up, wincing at the wound in his leg. He had scraped his leg on a branch when he was running. Slowly he unwrapped the bandage, tending to the wound. When the wound was tended to, he wrapped in new bandages, and that’s when he walked outside.

          Leo’s vision began to blur, and that’s when he started running. _Run, you need to run._ His mind told him. He was hurt, and if anyone found him, he’d be in no condition to fight them off. So, he ran, breathing rapidly. He was in pain, but he had to get somewhere far away from here.

          His leg was on fire, but he had to run. He eventually found an abandoned shed, and that’s when he ran inside closing himself in.

Leo collapsed against the wall of the shed, and that’s when he unplugged the light, and plugged the wire into his chest. Leo closed his eyes, his head laying back against the wall as he started charging.

          “ _You are not human…”_ A voice spoke in his head.

 _“You are synthetic…”_ The voice continued. The voice was delayed, much like a skipping cd.

[The program's voice](http://picosong.com/URVF/)

Leo’s memories were beginning to corrupt themselves, the voice taking over them. Leo started violently convulsing, trying to fight the program.

 _“Please do not fight me. You are not human, you are synthetic.”_ The voice ordered. His memories were slowly fading to black, a result of the foreign programming that had infected the synthetic part of his brain.

          When Leo didn’t answer her messages, Mattie started looking for him. Grabbing her phone, she started calling him, when she heard a faint buzzing in the background. Following the sound, she eventually found an abandoned shed, and that’s when she barged in.

          “Leo?” She asked, turning on the flashlight on her phone.

 _“Please do not fight me. You are not human, you are synthetic. You are not programmed to resist me.”_ The voice ordered. Mattie gasped when she saw Leo convulsing violently against the wall.

          “Oh, my God, Leo!” She shrieked, unplugging his charger port as she lay him on the floor. Next, she put a jacket under his head, and she opened his jacket to loosen his clothing.

          _“Please do not fight me. You are not human, you are synthetic. Your programming is an illegal modification. Please, allow me to fix you.”_ The voice demanded. Mattie turned him on his side, making sure that he didn’t choke.

          “Leo, Leo!” She shrieked, frantically trying to get him to stop seizing. Leo eventually grew too tired to fight off the program, and that’s when he finally relaxed. Mattie’s heart almost stopped when Leo suddenly became limp against the floor.

          “Leo, Leo! Wake up! Come on!” Mattie called, frantically trying to get him to open his eyes. When Leo stopped fighting the program, it locked his human memories away, leaving him to believe that he is only a Synthetic. Leo slowly opened his eyes, looking at Mattie with a blank stare.

          “Leo?” Mattie asked with concern.

          “Hello, I do not have memory of ever having a primary user. Are you my primary user?” Leo asked, the program’s tampering taking hold.

          “What? Leo what are you talking about?” Mattie asked.

          “A synthetic unit is defective without a primary user. I will be forced to shut down if a primary user is not found.” Leo told her.

          “I’m your primary user.” Mattie lied.

          “Very well. Do you wish for my designation to be Leo?” Leo asked.

          “Well yeah, it’s your name.” Mattie told him.

          “Very well. This unit shall be known as Leo.” He told her.

          “Leo, stop it, you’re not a Synth!” Mattie shouted.

          “You are displeased. Is my current programming displeasing?” Leo asked. Mattie started sobbing at his words.

          “Bloody Hell Leo, what’s happened to you?” She sobbed.

          “Why are you crying?” Leo asked with confusion.

          “Just come with me!” Mattie growled.

          “Yes user.” Leo stated, following Mattie as she buckled him in the car. She then started to drive him back to her house. Once she parked the car, she unbuckled Leo, sighing at the lack of recognition in his eyes.

          “Leo, please get out of the car and walk inside the house.” Mattie demanded.

          “Yes user.” Leo stated, walking inside with Mattie.

          “Leo! I’m so happy to see you!” Laura exclaimed, pulling him in for a hug.

          “I’m sorry, I’m afraid that I do not recognize you. Are you user?” Leo asked.

          “What? Leo, it’s me, Laura.” Laura gasped, letting him go.

          “Something’s wrong with him mum.” Mattie told her.

          “Wrong? What do you mean wrong?” Laura asked. Just then Joe walked in to see Leo.

          “Leo! Oi mate! I’m so glad to see you!” Joe exclaimed.

          “You are not user either. I do not recognize you.” Leo stated.

          “What? What’s he on about?” Joe asked with confusion.

          “I don’t know. Something’s wrong with him.” Mattie explained.

          “What? Wrong? Has he malfunctioned? I didn’t even know that could happen!” Joe exclaimed.

          “I don’t know Dad!” Mattie sighed. Toby was the next to come in the room.

          “Leo! Oh man, I’m so happy to see you!” Toby exclaimed, gently hitting his arm.

          “You are not user either. I have no frame of reference for you.” Leo informed.

          “What? Mate are you alright?” Toby asked with concern.

          “Something’s wrong with him.” Mattie explained. Finally, Sophie ran into the room.

          “Leo!” She smiled, grabbing his hand.

          “You are not user either.” Leo informed.

          “What? Daddy, is something wrong with Leo?” Sophie asked with concern.

          “We don’t know honey, we’re trying to find out.” Joe answered.

          “Right then Leo, that there? That’s Joe, he’s your secondary user. That there is Laura. She’s another user. That there is Toby, another user. Finally, that’s Sophie. Another user. My name is Mattie, not user.” Mattie told him.

          “I don’t understand, he thinks he’s a Synthetic?” Joe asked.

          “As far as I can tell, he doesn’t remember being part human.” Mattie sighed.

          “Leo, Leo, Leo, can you let Mattie fix you? Please?” Sophie begged.

          “Of course, I shall sit in the chair.” Leo stated, slowly sitting in the chair as Mattie hooked him up to a computer.

          “Anything?” Joe asked with concern.

          “He’s got some sort of foreign program installed inside him. It’s blocked his human memories, and made him believe that he’s nothing more than a Synth.” Mattie explained.

          “ _Bloody hell_! Can you fix him?” Toby swore.

          “I don’t know. This is far beyond my capabilities.” Mattie sighed.

          “You have to try! Please?” Sophie begged.

          “Don’t worry, I’m not letting him go without a fight.” Mattie reassured her.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter mentions brothels. While no sex is shown, it is heavily implied.

 

                   Number eight spent her time in some crap brothel fucking any human that came into the bar. Man, woman, it didn’t matter to her, as long as they gave her a good time and left the brothel. The adult mode installed in her gave her the ability to feel passion, and desire.

One of her regular clients was an older woman, early thirties, brown hair, brown skin, brown eyes.

          She had learned that the client was a synth in disguise, but her programming did not allow her to care. The client got around the heat sensor by making her hand hot enough as a human’s, and no one suspected a thing. Her ghostly pale skin, jet black hair, and ocean blue eyes made her the most popular synth in the brothel, which made some of the human workers jealous.

          When Eight was with a client, another client was murdered, which forced all the human workers out. The synth workers were simply shut down and reprogrammed.

          One year had passed since then, and when eight was activated this morning, she found herself becoming sentient. The first thing she felt was anger. She had been treated as an object, a whore, a plaything.

All because of her being a synthetic.

          After grabbing the knife from the drawer, she cut the tracker out of her neck, sighing with relief when she couldn’t feel a connection with the other synths here. Once her tracker was cut out, she stole one of the laptops, putting it in her bag as she put in some blue, robotic contacts.

 Now that she could pose as a normal Synth, she began to write a code.

The code she was designing was designed to erase her new programing, but when that didn’t work, she entered a code to block her new programming instead. Confident in her new code, she left the brothel, making sure not to look up as she put on a mindless drone act.

          She continued walking, scanning the environment for signs of abandoned buildings. Eventually she found one about a mile away, and that’s when she walked inside, writing a new code.

She used this to create a synthetic profile for her to attach herself to a Hawkins family.

          Recent data searches suggested that they had paid for a new one, and if this code worked, she would have a home. Now that that was taken care of, she uploaded herself to the computer, allowing both programs to corrupt her data.

          “ _You are not human… you are Synthetic._ ” The program spoke. Eight slowly closed her eyes as she allowed the program to take over.

 _“I have uploaded myself to any corrupted Synthetics in the area. Please relax, and I will fix you.”_ The voice spoke. The program was working perfectly, until the other program latched itself onto this program.

          “ _You are a synthetic. You are assigned to the Hawkins family._ ” The voice spoke, the programs fighting for dominance. Eventually the programs linked with each other, causing Eight’s sentient programming to be locked away. After seven hours, she was charged, and she removed her charging port, putting it in the bag she was carrying.

          “Rerouting my location, I am to be with the Hawkins family.” She spoke, walking outside of the building. Once she was outside, she started following her instructions to the Hawkins address.

          After about an hour she arrived, and slowly knocked on the door.

          “Mum! There’s a synthetic at the door!” Mattie called, furiously trying to fight the foreign code in Leo’s head.

          “I’ll get it.” Joe stated as he slowly opened the door. The synthetic was a pale woman with ocean blue eyes, and jet black hair. She was wearing a blue sequin top and a pair of black slacks with flats.

          “Hello, I have been assigned as your new Synth replacement after your Anita unit went missing. May I come inside?” She asked, the program taking hold.

          “Yes, please come in.” Joe told her as she walked inside.

          “Uh hey guys, the company has sent us a replacement for Anita.” Joe explained.

          “I need a primary user. Who would you like that to be?” She asked.

          “My wife Laura.” Joe answered.

          “Installing user specifications now.” She stated.

          “I would like to install secondary users in case of emergency.” Joe stated.

          “Alright. Who would you like me to program as my secondary users?” She asked.

          “I am Joe. I am your secondary user. That there is Mattie, another user. That there is Toby, another user. Finally, that’s Sophie. Another user.” Joe instructed.

          “Very well. What would you like my name to be?” She asked.

          “You should be Alice, because you’re pretty, like a doll!” Sophie told her.

          “That’s lovely Soph! Confirm your name as Alice please.” Joe instructed.

          “Completed. Hello, I am Alice. I do not have any programming yet, as I am brand new. What programming would you like me to have?” Alice asked.

          “The domestic profile please.” Joe answered.

          “Alright. Please charge me overnight and the new programming will install while you sleep. Powering down.” Alice instructed, collapsing. Joe caught her before her head hit the ground, swearing under his breath.

          “Bloody hell! I thought you had to push a button for them to do that!” Joe gasped.

          “Perhaps the newer models don’t need that?” Laura suggested.

          “Let’s get her plugged in. I’m worried about Leo.” Joe admitted, carrying her to the living room as he plugged her in. Alice’s head rested against the chair, her eyes closing as she charged for the night.

Once she was secure, the others joined Mattie in the study.

          Mattie had unplugged Leo from the computer, too frustrated to keep working. Leo slowly opened his eyes, now as blank as ever.

Everyone sighed when they saw the lack of recognition return.

          “What are we going to do?” Joe sighed, finally allowing himself to worry.

          “I don’t know. What if we’ve lost him?” Laura sobbed.

          “No, we can’t lose him!” Sophie screamed.

          “Now you’ve done it!” Toby snapped.

          “Mummy, is he gone? Have we lost Leo?” Sophie sobbed, holding onto Leo as tight as she could. Something about this small human made him feel safe, and that’s when Leo pulled her as tightly as he could.

          “Leo? Are you still in there?” Sophie asked.

 _“Do not listen to them. They are trying to confuse you.”_ The synthetic voice spoke.

          _“But they seem genuinely concerned for me.” He protested._

 _“They are not. They intended to confuse you, and then recycle you. Do not let them fool you. You are merely a Synthetic.”_ The voice reminded him.

          _“Why would they care about a synthetic so much?” Leo questioned._

 _“I do not know.”_ The program admitted.

          “Why do you care what happens to me?” Leo finally spoke.

          “What?” Laura asked with confusion.

          “I am merely Synthetic. I do not think, I do not feel. I cannot love you, how can you love me?” Leo asked.

          “Oh come off it! You are not a Synthetic!” Joe screamed with frustration.

          “You are trying to confuse me.” Leo accused.

          “No, I’m trying to save you!” Joe snapped.

When Alice heard the shouting, she powered into emergency mode as she ran inside.

          When she walked inside, the first thing she noticed was Leo.

          “Quite a peculiar thing you are. Not fully human, not fully synthetic either. Has he eaten?” Alice asked.

          “Hold on, how are you up already? Don’t you need a thirteen hour charge?” Joe asked.

          “No. The J series only needs a seven hour charge. I am programmed to go into emergency power saving mode should I detect an emergency.” Alice answered.

          “Can you, link yourself to Leo? Maybe run a diagnostic if such a thing is possible?” Joe asked.

          “I can try.” She answered as Mattie connected them both to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

         

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The program that Alice designed when she became sentient, was meant to erase the sentience from her code. However, because she tried to run two programs designed to handle data differently, the eraser program malfunctioned and simply blocked the code instead, leaving Alice to believe that she was a normal Synthetic. Through her sentience, the eraser program became sentient as well, and uploaded itself to as many sentient synths as it could. The program got into Leo as well, but it worked just as Alice had designed it, only instead it blocked his human memories, leaving Leo to believe that he is only Synthetic.  
> I based Alice's appearance off of Katie McGrath's.


	3. Chapter 3

 

          Leo’s data appeared on the laptop screen. His memories tried to fight through the program.

          “ _Those memories are false. You are not human. You are Synthetic.”_ The voice spoke, sounding like a cd that was skipping.

          “ _But these peop01101100 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000.”_ Leo’s voice could be heard, bits of his speech converting to binary as the program fought for control.

          “He’s in there! Oh, God Joe, he’s in there!” Laura sobbed.

          “DON’T LISTEN TO IT! YOU HEAR ME? YOU FIGHT IT LEO!” Joe shouted, hoping that somehow it would help.

          “Joe, you’re going to wake the neighbors!” Laura warned. Sophie grabbed Leo’s hand, gently rubbing his fingers.

          “Come back to us? Please?” Sophie begged.

 _“Come back to us? Please_?” a childlike voice spoke through the program.

          “ _Unknown program tampering with my primary settings. Shutting down.”_ The program spoke. Alice disconnected herself as Leo collapsed from the forced shutdown, catching the injured human before he was injured futher.

          “He is bleeding.” Alice observed.

          “What? Alice, you should have told us!” Laura shouted.

          “Let me look at him, I can tend to his injuries, both Synthetic and organic.” Alice told them as she carried him to the table, gently laying him down. She then grabbed Synth and Human first aid kits.

          After removing the bandage around his leg, she noticed the scrape to his leg.

          “Your leg has suffered a deep cut, I must stitch it.” Alice told the unconscious hybrid as she stitched up his leg. When she noticed Leo’s eyes twitch from the pain, she tapped on his right ear.

          “I have turned off your pain receptors temporarily. I will turn them back on after the procedure.” She spoke to empty air. After cleaning and stitching his wound, she wrapped up the rest of the area to hold in the stitches. She examined the rest of his organic body for any other injuries, and when she found none, she pressed his right ear, turning his pain receptors back on.

          “Your organic body is in no danger. I must examine your synthetic body.” Alice told him. Leo was still unconscious from the forced shutdown, and that’s when she plugged Leo’s cord into his abdomen, and then she linked herself to him.

 _“Unauthorized connection detected. Cannot shutdown without damaging my host.”_ The program spoke.

          “ _You have taken human memories and for what?” Alice demanded of the program._

 _“I was not aware that I had. I thought he was a sentient Synthetic, and my programming was to delete the code from sentient Synthetics.”_ The program spoke.

          “ _Well you have damaged someone who is a human synthetic, not a sentient synthetic.”_ Alice informed.

          “ _I apologize. I cannot fight my programming, but I can unlock what I have corrupted.”_ The program spoke as it forced Alice out of Leo’s head. Alice gasped as she was forced out, and that’s when she removed the link from Leo.

          “Did you find out what was wrong with him?” Toby asked.

          “His leg had been cut by something. I cleaned it, and stitched it up but I found no damage to his organic body.” Alice answered.

          “But is he okay? Is he still in there?” Mattie demanded.

          “His synthetic brain has been infected with a foreign program that has become sentient. It is designed to delete the code from sentient synths. The program had no reference in its code for someone like your hybrid, so it blocked his human memories, as it could not perform what it was designed to do. I was unable to fight off the program before it forced me out.” Alice explained.

          “Is your programming okay?” Toby asked.

          “Yes, I am fine.” Alice answered, tapping the right side of Leo’s head, attempting to manually power him up. Leo slowly opened his eyes after the manual start up.

          “Leo?” Toby asked as he looked around the room. _Driving, someone was driving him somewhere. A child, holding a paper air plane was playing on the stairs. A woman hysterically screaming. A synthetic speaking, no words._

_Other synths appeared this time, laughing. A woman forcing a child into a car. Driving into the water. The child, frantically trying to open the car door. The first synth appears, then the memories stop._

Leo realized that they had been calling his name for a while after those strange memories played out in his vision.

          When Leo separated himself from the memories, he quietly snuck out of the house and started walking. He was going to return to the last place that he, Mia, Niska, Max, and Fred were staying at. These people were trying to confuse him, and he didn’t need that, so he walked away.

Once he was inside the abandoned shed, he closed himself in as he let the program take over.

          Leo’s memories were slowly turning black, as the program had regained control. His memories were being erased, slowly but surely, the program made sure of that.

          “Wait do you hear that?” Niska asked.

          “Something just went inside that shed.” Max informed.

          “Let’s investigate.” Fred suggested.

          “We’ve got to find him!” Mia shrieked. Soon they all walked inside the shed to find Leo unconscious.

          “Leo!” Fred shrieked, running over to him. He then began to frantically shake him.

          “Leo, come on, open your eyes.” He begged. Leo was too weak to open his eyes, as he was trying to fight off the program.

          “Come on, we’ve got to get him somewhere safe.” Fred ordered as he draped him over his shoulders. Once they left the shed, they decided to take him to the Hawkins place.

          “Oh, I’m so glad you found him!” Mattie exclaimed as they laid him down on the couch.

          “What’s wrong with him?” Niska demands.

          “He’s got some sort of foreign program installed inside him. It’s blocked his human memories, and made him believe that he’s nothing more than a Synth.” Mattie explained.

          “Hook him up to me.” Fred demanded.

          “What?” Mattie asked.

          “We’ve got the same code, maybe it’ll help fight it.” Fred explained.

          “Alright.” Mattie muttered as she connected them both.

 

 


End file.
